Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Women's Basketball Goes in the Classroom for Five Week Junior Achievement Program

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -The University of Hartford women's basketball team renewed their partnership with Junior Achievement this week by kicking off a five-week program with third graders at the Glastonbury-East Hartford Magnet School.

Six members of the women's basketball team received training to teach a specifically designed curriculum consisting of hands-on activities that allow the students to learn by doing. Designed by national experts in learning, activities are engaging, fun and comprehensive. All Junior Achievement lessons correlate to the state curriculum standard. The curriculum focuses on making students financially responsible, prepared for the workforce and entrepreneurially savvy.

"Our first day was really fun and went well," said seniorShanise Bultron. "The kids in the class were very excited to have basketball players teaching them for a little bit."

"Our five-week program will be very beneficial because it will allow them to get to know us personally. It's really important to develop a bond with them and it would be great if they wanted to come to some games and support us this season."

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Today was the first day of the 2014
World Championships. This is what we've been preparing for the past three
weeks. We've only had our full 12 member team together for three days but it's
not a terrible thing when a 6-8 player that can dunk is the final piece of the
puzzle.

Because I'm one of the team scouts, I travelled to Ankara, Turkey this morning
from Istanbul with Chris Dailey to watch the eight teams from the pools on the
other side of the bracket. I was a little skeptical traveling away from the
group, especially since our team plays their first game against China tonight but
after what I just witnessed, I realized how special an experience this really
is. I just finished watching France play the home team Turkey. The game
started at 7 p.m. local time and the arena was packed by 6:30. I
watched the introductions of both teams and then listened to 5,000 Turkish fans
proudly sing/shout their teams National Anthem before the game started. It was
pretty cool.

The game started out kind of slow, but
when Turkey's most popular player hit a three to go up two with 47 seconds to
play, I couldn't hear myself think. I'm not sure I've ever been in that kind of
environment. And this is only the first game of the tournament! It's
going to be a fun ride and I'm so glad I get to be a part of it. Now, back to
work! Brazil versus Czech Republic, coming up next!

Friday, August 15, 2014

Alumni
Player Profile: Kathy Behrens

Kathy Behrens graduated from the University
of Hartford in 1985 with an extensive resume that included three years of
playing tennis, two years playing basketball and a variety of accomplishments
off the court such as serving on the senate her junior year and as the Student
Government Association President as a senior. Currently, Behrens is
working with the NBA as the Executive Vice President, Social Responsibility
& Player Programs.

This past May, the University of Hartford
welcomed her back and presented her with the Vincent Brown Coffin Award
(professional achievement by a former student athlete) at the 2014 Alumni
Athletics Hall of Fame Dinner.

“It was a super fun night and great to be
back with my friends & family,” described Behrens who recently took the
time to reflect on her experiences. “I come back to the University fairly
regularly because I’m on the Board of Regents, but to be able to experience the
Hall of fame Dinner and go down memory lane was very special. I always think my
sports background prepared me for after college because it’s a competitive
environment and you have to deliver in a different way than you do on the
court.”

Following college, Behrens wanted to learn
the ins and outs of fundraising. She did so while working for former New York
Governor Mario Cuomo for seven years in various capacities and also with United
Way. In 1995, Behrens began working as the executive director for New
York Cares, a non-profit organization still near and dear to her heart.

In 2000 the NBA commissioner David Stern
called Behrens, approaching her about becoming the Vice President of Community
Relations for the NBA and she accepted.

“With basketball being a big part of my life,
I thought it was a great opportunity and a great time in my life for a career
change. I loved the sport and I understood how much of an emphasis the NBA
wanted to place on community service and how much it values the work it’s
players and teams do around the world.”

In fourteen years Behrens role with the NBA
has changed and expanded. She has pioneered a number of important NBA community
service initatives that have made a huge impact around the world. In 2005 she
spearheaded the NBA Cares program, which she describes as “an umbrella
to connect our players, teams and employee’s and capture the different things
they were doing.” Through NBA Cares, the NBA & WNBA have traveled to
over 900 places around the world renovating homes for veterans and the elderly,
going into schools and Boys and Girls Clubs, and performing a “day of service”
each year during the NBA All-Star Weekend. One of her proudest memories was the
day of service in New Orleans’s after Hurricane Katrina.

Behrens has developed and overseen numerous
initiatives such as NBA Fit, a program to help children lead active and
healthy lifestyles, Share Our Strengths, which provides children access
to nutritious food and prevent hunger, and Basketball Without Boarders
where NBA & WNBA players travel around the world growing the game of
basketball and demonstrate the commitment to giving back. Under her leadership,
the NBA & WNBA have also worked with programs focusing on ending homophobia
in sports.

Despite her tireless work and busy travel
schedule, Behrens still finds time to give back and support the University of
Hartford.

“I loved the University of Hartford and I
still come back and participate because I’m still connected. I made life long
friends. The things I did athletically and with the student government were
transformative for me.”

Behrens also credits the University of
Hartford for distinguishing a culture of giving back to the community. “Being a
leader in the community is part of the culture at Hartford. It’s not just about
the people your helping, it’s also important for the people doing the helping.
It’s a real differentiator for Hartford and it can really change the culture
your trying to create when community service is in your DNA.”

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

I have had the chance to work an internship position at the
Newman’s Own Foundation, where I am currently working with my former teammate,
Alex Hall. The foundation is based on philanthropy and they donate all of the
profits from Newman’s Own Inc. to charities all around the world. My job at the
foundation has included researching, organizing, and creating briefing
documents on a number of small projects.

I was also fortunate to participate in a business trip with Newman’s
Own to New York City, where I helped the foundation with a conference they hosted
for other small businesses that also donate their entire profits to charity.

What I enjoy most about my internship is being a part of a
company that does so much good for others. My temporary job with them is much
bigger than myself; I thoroughly enjoy working for a company that works for an
amazing cause by helping others.

Another thing I thoroughly enjoy is being with my team.
Summer session is an amazing opportunity for putting in hard work in the
classroom, on the basketball court, and in the weight room. It is so helpful to
have all the players and coaches together with a common goal of getting better
and spending time together.

This is a great adjustment period for the new freshman. Everyone
is fitting in perfectly and we are catching them up to the new speed of college
basketball. Being back on campus with the team is such a blast and an amazing
privilege to be able to continue our scholastic studies as well as coming
together as a unit. The girls have been amazing, everyone is extremely focused,
working hard, and having a great time together. This is a great beginning to
what will be a great year for Hartford Women’s Basketball.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

"I am very grateful I had the opportunity to play
three years with Erika Messam. Erika was such a great player, she made everyone
around her that much better. The talent, aggression, and skill she brought to
the court was just completely unmatched. I'll never forget playing pick up and
always having to guard her. She would talk so much trash to everyone so we
would all get mad and play harder. Some days those pick up games felt like the
America East championship. No matter how hard we competed against each other on the court
we always remained great friends and that is something I will always cherish.
The impact Erika made at the University of Hartford will be talked about for a
very long time and I can't think of anyone more deserving to be inducted into
the Hall of Fame."

- Ikea Witt, Class of 2007

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 -My fondest memories of playing
basketball with Erika Messam were those rare instances in practice when I
actually thought I'd tired her out and might be able to accomplish
something...anything! Like get a pass off, drive towards the basket, maybe hit
a shot, or steal the ball from her when she was on offense.

You have to understand I was
often Erika's personal practice partner who got the glorious job of "trying"
(notice the quotes) to stop her. My mentality most practices was to attempt to
cheat into those passing lanes or "first" options in a play, as I
knew every play our red team (starters) were attempting to run. This worked on
some teammates...but not Erika.

She was the queen of giving a
defender "false hope" because she'd put her hands on her hips and
breath heavy and look all tired after scoring or doing a ton of work to get a
teammate a wide open shot and you'd start to think, "Okay, I have a chance
now...she's tired."

Then Coach Rizz would switch
things up and put her on the white team, which I was always excited about no
matter how beat she looked. Because that was the thing about Erika Messam, no
matter what team she was on they would win...and she loved a challenge! Four
starters on the red and her with the white team and she'd start going off (yes,
this is right after her hands were on her hips and she looked exhausted).

The best part about being
on the same team with Erika was how good she'd make you feel when you did
something well. There was no bigger trash talker on our team, but there was
also no bigger cheerleader. If you did something well she just about bowled you
over with a hug (or one of her stinging high fives) and you couldn't help but
grin from ear to ear because she also let you know when you were messing up (in
an encouraging...motivating...get it together kind of way).

She read people well, knew how to
motivate and totally lead by example on the floor. There wasn't anyone who
played with the kind of tenacity that Erika did and we all respected her for
it. That's probably why Coach Rizz made her our captain. She was a tenacious,
competitive, winner...and we certainly did win during her time at Hartford I
couldn't think of a more deserving person to go into the Hall of Fame.
Congratulations E!

- Kate (DiDonato) DeLoureiro, Class of 2007Friday, May 9, 2014 -

Erika was an
unwavering teammate. No matter what was going on in her world, she kept it off
the court and left her heart on the court. I couldn't think of a more deserving
individual for this award-a wonderful player, teammate, mother and person. Like
many of the players and friends at Hartford, I consider her a forever friend.
With life after Hartford, she has been a sister, mentor and friend. From post player to point guard, much love, respect and
honor for this achievement.- Tanika Price, Class of 2005

Monday, May 5, 2014

I
can’t believe it has been almost a full year since graduating! But boy what a
crazy and exciting year it has been.

After
graduating last May, my Aunt graciously opened her home in Bloomfield to me, allowing
me to live there through the summer. I continued working at Farmington Valley
Transition Academy as a one to one specialist through the end of June.

At
the end of August, I officially said goodbye to Connecticut and moved to Washington,
D.C. for graduate school. Over the past eight months I have been working as the
Graduate Assistant/Assistant Coach for the women’s basketball team and working
on my Masters in Public Administration at Gallaudet University. Gallaudet is a
private institution for the deaf and hard of hearing in the heart of D.C.

Competing
at the NCAA Division III level, Gallaudet competes in the Northeastern Athletic
Conference (NEAC). This past season the women’s basketball team finished 15-12
overall and made it to the NEAC tournament semifinals for the first time since
2010-11. Needless to say, it was a really exciting year for our program!

Attending
Gallaudet has been a dream of mine for many years. I have truly been blessed
with this opportunity to further my education and continue to be involved with
basketball at the collegiate level as a coach. Living in D.C. has truly been
amazing. I’ve had to make friends outside of sports, use public transportation
and even live with people I didn’t know in advance! I know all these probably
sound like minor accomplishments, but after being surrounded by wonderful
teammates (who had cars) and were also easy to get along with, these are
basically major milestones in life.

The
players and staff of Gallaudet’s many athletic teams have taken me under their
wings. They teach me new signs every day and challenge me even when I’m
extremely uncomfortable. I have been able to transfer so many intangibles from
what I learned at Hartford. It shocks me sometimes at how similar I sound to my
coaches at Hartford.

I
knew my coaches were smart while I was there, but they’re even smarter now that
I can use some of the very same sayings I heard on a regular basis and see the
impact it has on my players. Having the experience of being a Hawk has taught
me more about life and management then I could have ever imagined. I am
grateful everyday for all the experiences I have had.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Wow, the Final Four was quite the
experience of a lifetime! I’ve never had so much fun doing so many different
activities in an incredible city. If you have never been to a Final Four and
are debating on whether it’s worth it to go or not…IT IS!

Sunday was my first full day in
Nashville. I started off the morning by attending a “meet and greet” with Beth
Bass, the current Chief Executive Officer of the WBCA, with the other nine members
of the Good Works Team and their parents/guests. Beth invited all of us up to
her suite in the morning just to better acquaint each of us and congratulate us
on making the Good Works Team. It was amazing to hear all the extraordinary
things the other girls had done to be involved in their community and even
further than their local area. Many of the girls were a Big Sister or Buddy
program for 3-4 years like I have been, some helped out at homeless shelters, and
many had run basketball camps. Several girls had gone to other countries such
as Brazil and South Africa to complete missions and/or run educational
programs for a few weeks. I thought that was truly remarkable. Not only did
some of the girls reach out to their local communities, they also traveled out
to third world countries and gave back. Like myself, some of the other Good
Works Team members have been impacted somehow by cancer. One of the team
members worked with a nine-year old girl battling leukemia, another had been
involved in breast cancer awareness events and helped to raise money towards research. I was blown away by the resume's of my Good Works Team members.

Later that day the ten of us went over
to “Tourney Town” to hand out awards to groups in the Nashville area that had given
back to their community. These included some local Boys & Girls Clubs,
church groups, and YMCA’s. Each group got their award and the representatives
went down the line to shake the hands of the 10 Good Works Team members. The
kids were so excited and honored to shake our hands which was very cute.

Next up…GAME TIME BABYYY! We gathered
in the hotel lobby and walked over together to the Bridgestone Arena to watch
the Final Four games. First up, #4 Maryland vs. #1 Notre Dame, who was
undefeated. What a great first game to get the night started! Notre Dame had so
much talent at the guard position and couldn’t miss! They ended up getting an
easy 20+ point victory over Maryland in the end. Next up was #1 UConn, also
undefeated of course, vs. #1 Stanford. UConn is probably the toughest team in
the country. So disciplined and relentless to the point where
they seem
invincible. This was a very special game because just after halftime, myself
and the rest of the 2014 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team were recognized on court. We walked onto the court during one of the timeouts and
were individually announced. This was a truly a wonderful for me because the
gym was filled with 85% UConn fans who knew of the University of Hartford. So
when my name was announced there was a roaring ovation from the crowd! I
couldn’t believe it, it was amazing to hear so many people cheering for me,
I’ve never had such a big smile on my face.

The next day was an early morning as we
got up to celebrate Allstate WBCA Good Works Day.We spent almost all day at the
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. When we first got their we introduced
ourselves and got to meet a lot of the staff and directors as they talked a
little bit about the hospital and some of its goals and initiatives. Then
Allstate and the 10 of us got to present the hospital with a $10,000 check!
They were all so happy and grateful and talked about all the great things they
could put the money towards. After that we spent the next hour or so assembling
over 300 “Wellness Kits” that included a water bottle, hand sanitizer, lotion,
chap-stick, sunscreen, and a stress ball all put into a cold-insulated zip-up
lunch bag.

We then broke up into three teams and walked around different areas
of the hospital to distribute them and visit with patients. I have never been
around so many wonderful people in my entire life. I felt so blessed to be able
to visit and talk with each of the patients that I had met. They were so kind
and courageous going through what was probably the toughest obstacle in their
life. But yet, they were so excited and honored to see us. I felt like it was
the other way around because I was the one that felt excited and fortunate. The
Team and I spent the next couple hours or so walking around the hospital
delivering the Wellness Kits and talking basketball smack about the men’s and
women’s tournament. After walking around and visiting, all of the staff,
directors, Allstate representatives and the Team sat down for lunch and shared
a little bit about ourselves. We concluded with a movie that the hospital had
made about surviving cancer, living your life to its fullest, and having hope. The
entire day at the hospital was so moving and heartfelt. I couldn’t help but be
inspired by everyone there. Patients, staff, administrators, everyone was part
of this incredible family and I was so glad we were able to go there as part of
Good Works Day. Such an amazing time!

That evening was the WBCA Awards Show.
We were lucky enough to be announced with the Naismith and Wade Trophy winners
and Coach of the Year. Plenty of decorated athletes and coaches were in
attendance including Coach Rizzotti who actually presented the Wade Trophy
winner. It was a privilege to be in the presence of so many basketball greats.

Tuesday was my final day in Nashville.
This was a day filled with a lot more down time until the afternoon. Around
2:30p.m. we all went over to Tourney Town for an autograph session. I felt like
a celebrity up on stage signing posters and basketballs for young players and
families, getting my picture taken, and having people congratulate me. I was so
surprised on how many people were in line to get our autographs but I was so
happy and once again had a huge smile on my face.

That evening was the national championship game.
The best part of course…watching UConn celebrate as they had claimed there ninth National Championship! I had watched the game many times before on TV, but to
be there in person was so cool! Watching the team jumping on each other,
jumping on Coach Auriemma, holding up the trophy, and cutting down the nets was
thrilling. I felt so lucky to be there and watch it all happen in
person.

That concluded my time at the Final
Four in Nashville. I know I’ve said it a hundred times before but what an
AMAZING experience. Between receiving the award and being involved in all the
great things I did while I was down there, I couldn’t ask for anything better.
I am so grateful to Allstate for the opportunity and for accommodating me and
my parents on our trip. I would also like to thank the WBCA for selecting me as
one of five Division I players to be on the Team. And of course to everyone at
the University of Hartford that nominated me. It was one of the best experiences
of my life and it makes every minute of community service I have ever done, and
will continue to do in the future, truly worth it. Again, thank you to everyone
that made this all possible for me. I am honored to be a part of the 2014
Allstate WBCA Good Works Team!